


The Heart of Me

by tysmiha



Series: The Right to Ask [2]
Category: Genghis Khan - Miike Snow (Music Video)
Genre: Awkward Romance, M/M, Mild Blood, Minor Violence, Romantic Fluff, Slow Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-08
Updated: 2018-07-04
Packaged: 2019-03-28 18:00:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 17,025
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13909290
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tysmiha/pseuds/tysmiha
Summary: A continuation of The Right to Ask, based on characters created by the lovely Solshine in her fic It's a cheat somewhere!Barbara has absconded, leaving Dominik alone to balance his newfound romance with looking after his kids and keeping up his villainy. Identity crises abound!





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [It's a cheat somewhere](https://archiveofourown.org/works/5876644) by [Solshine](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Solshine/pseuds/Solshine). 



This whole thing was absolutely insane, Dominik was convinced he’d officially lost his mind. Of every possible outcome, this was the one he’d never have considered in a million years. But sitting on the roof next to Bradley Ellington watching the sunrise, he couldn’t have been happier about it.

They’d been talking for about an hour, surprisingly light-hearted small talk considering the fact that just a little while ago Dominik was ready to end the man’s life. How was he so forgiving? If this were the other way around, Dominik wasn’t sure how he’d be able to look past any of what he’d done.

But Ellington -- no, Bradley, -- didn’t bat an eye at any of the questions Dominik had, personal or otherwise. Even when Dominik explained his domestic situation, all Bradley had to say was, “We’ll make it work.”

Dominik had a feeling it was going to be a lot more work than Bradley was expecting, but all of that could wait. For now, sitting here with him was the simplest joy he’d experienced in a long time. But in a silence that stretched on for a bit too long, there was still something eating at Dominik too much for him to ignore.

“Can I...ask you one more question?” he said, pulling his hand out from under Bradley’s to fidget with a loose thread on his sleeve.

“Anything, shoot,” Bradley smiled.

“Why...what made you think I was a good idea?”

Bradley threw his head back, laughing. Now that Dominik was marginally less afraid of entertaining those sorts of thoughts, he had to admit: the guy was gorgeous.

“I’m still not sure you’re a good idea,” he grinned.

Dominik’s face fell a bit, unsure of what he meant, and Bradley quickly fumbled to recover.

“No, no. I didn’t mean it like that. Shit. No, I just meant...you know. This is new territory for me too. But the risk is worth it, Dominik, believe me. I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t.”

“But...why?” Dominik pressed. “I can’t imagine what about anything I’ve done made you decide you wanted to know me any better.”

Bradley chewed on the inside of his cheek for a moment before answering. “I don’t know,” he finally said. “I just...knew. I knew that I had to.”

Dominik supposed that was the best answer he was going to get.

 

\-----

 

As surely as he’d expected it, coming home to a completely silent house still felt like a punch to the gut. Dominik almost wished he’d invited Bradley to come back with him, if only to alleviate some of the emptiness. 

The second thing he noticed, after the deafening quiet, was the note Barbara left on the kitchen table.

 

_ Dom, _

_ I’ll be away for a while. You’ll need to pick up the kids from school. _

 

Dominik frowned. It wasn’t any less than he deserved, but after being married for 15 years he thought maybe a slightly longer farewell note was in order.

He wondered what she’d told Alex and Lizzie. Had she said anything? Did she just drop them off this morning and leave without a word? The longer he thought about it, the more certain he was that that was exactly what she did. After all, this was a mess he’d created. Why shouldn’t he be the one to explain it to them?

That was going to be an interesting conversation.

In the bedroom, the closet was now mostly empty. In the bathroom, the medicine cabinet was all but barren. Barbara had made a decided effort to completely remove even the memory of herself from this house. 

It was impressive, actually, how easily she’d left without a trace. Living in one house for so long, it seemed like there should have been more evidence that she was ever there. But there wasn’t, not really. They’d never made a habit of picking up souvenirs from vacations, any pictures they took tended to be more of the children than of each other. Their home was full of necessity, and Dominik realized now that the only thing that ever made it inviting was her presence.

He sat on the bed and stared into the empty hollow in the wall where her skirts and dresses used to hang, feeling utterly at odds with himself. His purpose hadn’t been to love Barbara. His purpose hadn’t been to raise a family. At this point, he wasn’t even sure if his purpose had anything to do with Vergoldetschnauz Enterprises. He wasn’t remotely ready to consider whether or not his purpose had anything to do with Bradley Ellington, but he couldn’t hush the small part of him that hoped maybe it did.

And then he noticed something...odd. A seam in the wall the breadth of a hair, as if they’d laid wallpaper out in the back of the closet. But there was no wallpaper, just paint. And this seam.

Dominik stood, brow furrowed as he tried to get a better look. He ran his fingers over it, scraping it with his fingernail to get a better sense of its depth. It reminded him of...hmm

He began gently putting pressure on the wall in a few different spots until finally --  _ click _ . Half of the wall of the closet popped softly ajar.

Now  _ that _ was interesting.

He pulled it the rest of the way open to find what amounted to, well, another closet. There was nothing in it but a few shelves and a wire rack that looked like it might have hung shoes or hats. It wasn’t even big enough to walk into.

It must have been added by whoever lived here before them, so many years ago. Although the hinges were notably soundless. Wouldn’t they be rusty with age? Maybe they had been better protected, being hidden inside the wall. But the shelves were also curiously free of dust. After over a decade of disuse, they should be practically buried in it.

Nothing about this sat right with him.

Sitting back down on the bed, Dominik tried to make sense of it. The sole explanation that made any sort of sense was that Barbara had been using it. But what for? And why wouldn’t she have mentioned it to him?

He shook his head; he was being ridiculous. It was just some secondary storage she had probably been using to keep old things she didn’t wear anymore. Honestly, she may very well have mentioned it to him at some point when he wasn’t paying attention. That happened more often than he would have liked to admit.

Even so, wouldn’t he have seen her use it? At least once?

It was a mystery that would have to wait. For now, it was time to go get his kids and tell them why their mom had left without saying goodbye.

 

\-----

 

There was still a lot that Dominik couldn’t even begin to try and process about the direction his relationship to Bradley Ellington had taken, not the least of which being how to spend any real time with him. It wasn’t like they could just go out for coffee. Dominik knew the VDA had their eye on him, but he also knew that Bradley had twice as much to lose if they ever found out.

So they reconvened the next day at the lair. Dominik had told his men to take the rest of the week while he rewrote his entire life plan...Bradley showing up to see him was completely unrelated.

“What did you tell them?” he asked, leaning back against the wall by the stairs where he sat.

“Just that she’d been called away by family, her aunt was ill and she needed to go visit. That she wished she could have seen them before she had to leave but that it was an emergency.” Dominik shrugged.

“So you lied,” Bradley said.

“Yes,” Dominik replied tersely. “They’re just children, they wouldn’t understand.”

Bradley shot him a dubious look.

Dominik huffed. “And what would  _ you _ have said?”

“I would have said that I’d fallen hopelessly head-over-heels for the man of my dreams,” Bradley said with a wink.

“Please,” Dominik rolled his eyes. “I’m going to be sick.”

Bradley laughed again, reaching for Dominik’s hand. “Kids are more understanding than you might think.”

“Maybe,” Dominik shrugged. They’d seemed satisfied with the answer he’d given them, and if he was being perfectly honest, he wasn’t ready to explain to them that her leaving was his fault, regardless of whether or not they would understand. 

He stared down at his hand in Bradley’s and felt thoroughly disconnected from it, like it belonged to someone else. At some point he assumed this would stop feeling so surreal, but for now… it probably didn’t help that he still hadn’t properly slept. Trying to sleep in the bed felt like lying on a pile of rocks, and the sofa was too short to stretch out on. Maybe he would just never sleep again. That was reasonable, right?

“I’d love to meet them,” Bradley said.

“No, no,” Dominik replied, pulling his hand away. There were a million reasons why that was an absolutely terrible idea. He wasn’t remotely sure where to start. “No.”

Bradley looked crestfallen. “Oh,” he said. “Forgive me, I didn’t mean to overstep, I just thought--”

“No,” Dominik said again, “you didn’t. It’s just…” he reached for any reason he could hold onto long enough to say out loud, but it wasn’t happening. He could tell him that it would look bad, right after their mother left, for him to bring someone else home. He could tell him it was too risky, if the VDA learned that they’d been spending time together off the clock, for Bradley to know that much about his personal life. He could tell him that he still wasn’t really certain he should put his trust in a VDA agent at all. 

Or he could sit there, floundering in silence. 

“You don’t have to explain,” Bradley shook his head. “I’m just happy to spend time with you.”

“Why is this so easy for you?” Dominik asked, brows furrowed.

“Well, a lot of people tell me that I’m just naturally very charismatic,” Bradley replied with a grin, earning himself another eye roll. “Really, it’s  _ not _ easy,” he continued. “Being this good-looking is actually very challenging.”

“I have a lot of work to do,” Dominik said, trying to cover up a laugh as he stood from his seat on the steps. “Don’t you have somewhere to be?”

“I wish I didn’t,” Bradley sighed. “I’m not entirely sure how to explain my miraculous escape last night.”

“I hope you’re not planning on  _ lying, _ Agent Ellington,” Dominik said.

“You must be a bad influence,” Bradley shrugged, standing and re-capturing Dominik’s hands. “When can I see you again?”

Dominik’s stomach did a flip at the question, at the shift in his joking tone, at the feeling of their palms pressed together. “I’ll be here tomorrow,” he said. “Most of the day, probably.”

“Perfect,” Bradley said. “Tomorrow, then.”

He shouldn’t have had a right to be as happy as he was, all things considered. But maybe, he decided, it was okay to let it happen anyway. Just for a while.

 

\-----

 

The best (though admittedly temporary) solution that Bradley had come up with to relieve the awkwardness of taking missions with Dominik’s name on them was simply to tell the VDA he didn’t want them anymore. After narrowly escaping Dr. Vergoldetschnauz’s lair with his life, he felt too emotionally compromised to ever go back.

It was a minor injury to his pride, he’d confessed to Dominik, but well worth it.

Dominik tried not to think too hard about what it meant that Bradley was actively  _ allowing _ him to carry on with whatever destructive undertakings he pleased. Not that he wasn’t glad for it; it allayed the pressure of feeling like his very existence was in direct conflict with everything Bradley believed in. But if it wasn’t, then...well, that’s where it got confusing. And he didn’t have time to dwell on it.

A little more than a week after Barbara left, Dominik was able to get the first six consecutive hours of sleep he’d had in months. He awoke the next morning with an idea that felt like it had already planned itself out in his dreams, complete down to a visualization of the blueprint. He had another party to crash, and this time he would be unstoppable.

After a day of hashing out the details with his team and a phone call to Barbara’s favorite babysitter, Dominik stood outside of a local jewelry shop with four men and his sonic emitter pylons. During the day, Incurio Jewelers featured a ridiculous 50 carat diamond as the centerpiece of their display window. At night, it was carefully tucked away in a safe at the back of the building. Soon, though, it would find a home as the central power conductor in Dominik’s electroparalysis laser.

With the pylons set up, the alarm system was down in a matter of seconds, and in a few more seconds past that his men were inside the building. It would only be a few more minutes and they could abscond with the diamond as if they were never there.

Dominik waited around the corner from the back door, focusing on the twitching second hand of his watch. If they were quick enough, they could reasonably hope to be out of there before the VDA ever arrived.

A couple minutes went by. This was still the hardest part of not involving himself directly with smaller jobs, but he knew if he went in there all he would do was micromanage. He didn’t want to be that person, and he trusted his men. He had personally selected each of them, after all.

Another minute. To be fair, he never planned on theft being a huge part of any of his projects. Lock picking hadn’t been a skill he looked for in interviews. If they were struggling with a jewel safe, he was certainly willing to cut them a break for it.

Two more minutes passed. Despite trying to talk himself down, Dominik was beginning to get antsier than he could deal with. If he just stuck his head in the door, he was sure they wouldn’t mind. He wouldn’t try to rush them, but what if they needed something? He didn’t want to make himself  _ un _ available.

Thirty more seconds crept by and Dominik made the decision. Sighing in resignation, he pushed himself off the wall and turned the corner towards the back door. Which was propped open.

Something was wrong. They knew better than to leave a door open without someone there actively watching it.

The interior of the building was dark, as it should have been to avoid calling attention to their operation, but it was eerily quiet. Not a shuffle of a foot, not a whisper, not a breath -- dead silence. 

Dominik stood just outside of the gaping threshold, faced with a new decision: either walk into whatever trap was waiting for him, or leave his men to whatever fate had befallen them. He really didn’t want to explain that to the rest of his team.

He reached into his coat, securing a grasp on his laser gun.

“Whatever this is, I can’t say I’m terribly interested in participating,” he said into the darkness. “Why don’t you come out? We can talk about this like professionals.”

Nothing. Well, it was worth a shot.

He shut his eyes for a moment, already regretting this. “Fine, have it your way,” he sighed, pulling his gun out and stepping through the doorway.

It took a moment for his eyes to completely adjust to the change in lightning, but once he was able to get a look around, the first thing he noticed was a foot sticking out from behind a desk. It was the only sign of life he could see, but it confirmed what he had suspected: his men were down.

Well this was certainly not how he’d planned this excursion to go. In his mind, he sifted through the few explanations he could come up with, but nothing really made any sense here. It wasn’t the VDA; this was not remotely their style. They preferred the hot-shot guns-blazing approach. No, this was far too subtle. There was a slim possibility he was unknowingly in some rivalry with another villain. He hadn’t had a lot of close encounters with anyone else in the industry yet, though. Or maybe he’d coincidentally planned this robbery the same night someone else had. Unlikely, but not impossible, he supposed.

Whatever the explanation was, he wasn’t going to leave without that diamond. He took a few more steps around the shelf on the back wall toward the safe and the door slammed shut behind him.

_ Shit. _

Suddenly he wished he’d kept a pair of the night-vision goggles he’d given his men. It was completely black without the streetlight spilling in from the back alley, and now there was very likely someone between him and his only way out.

“It’s nice to finally meet you,” he said, if only to mitigate the uneasy quiet. He cautiously slid his finger over the trigger of his gun.

Then, the only sounds he’d heard since entering the room: a single footstep and one muffled gunshot. It took place over just a few seconds, but Dominik could have sworn it happened in slow motion. He returned fire as soon as it registered, but felt the searing pain of a hit to the shoulder. He staggered back, watching the door swing open and a lithe figure dart out before he was again swallowed up in darkness.

He couldn’t even tell if he was bleeding. He assumed he had to be, but the fact that he’d been hit at all was a little distracting. It was too late to figure out who had shot him, much less retaliate -- he  _ had _ to get that diamond, if it wasn’t gone already. Otherwise, all of this was for nothing.

Turning back towards where the safe was supposed to be, he crouched down and fumbled blindly for anything that felt like a combination lock. But the more he fumbled, the harder it was to hold on to his focus, and eventually he conceded to sitting on the floor, just for a moment. Just until he’d collected himself. He leaned back against the wall by the safe, certain now that yes, he was definitely bleeding. He just needed a second, then he would try again. Just.

One second.

 

\-----

 

Dominik opened his eyes in his lair, laying on the metal gurney that once held Bradley Ellington under a death ray. It wasn’t the coziest place to lay, but if he felt uncomfortable he knew it wasn’t because of that.

“Do you remember what happened?” a voice asked. One of his scientists, he determined.

“I wish I didn’t,” Dominik answered, grunting as he tried to sit up. His shoulder protested the move loudly, and he let himself fall back down onto the gurney. Someone had patched him up rather expertly, and he made a mental note to ask who did it later. Maybe it would be prudent to think about keeping someone on as medical help, especially if this sort of thing was going to keep happening. “Did we get the diamond?”

The reply wasn’t immediate, which in itself was enough of an answer for Dominik.

“We lost all four men,” the scientist finally responded.

Dominik sighed, bringing his hand up to cover his face. “I’m sorry,” he said.

“We believe it was an ambush, sir,” another voice chimed in. Cooper, Dominik decided.

“Oh? Why’s that?” he asked, a little less than enthusiastic to hear the answer.

“We feel reasonably certain that whoever it was, was already there before you arrived.”

“So we walked in on another heist?”

“...Not exactly, sir.” Cooper said. “Nothing else was stolen. If we’d walked in on a regular burglary, they would have taken a lot more.”

“Nothing else?” Dominik said, pinching the bridge of his golden nose.

“Nothing except...the diamond. Sir.”

Dominik swore, gritting his teeth and pushing himself into a sitting position with his legs over the side of the table. “How the hell did they know what we were after?”

“Well, it  _ was _ the most expensive thing in the building.” A third voice entered the conversation, and Dominik swung his head around to see Bradley Ellington, walking up with a goddamned glass of water.

“You shouldn’t be here,” Dominik frowned.

“We let him in, sir,” Cooper explained, somewhat nervously. 

Dominik looked Bradley over. He was dressed in his usual semi-formal work attire, either about to go in or just off -- wait, “What time is it?” He pulled his wrist up, trying to interpret the time on his watch, brain still a little fuzzy. “Have you called Julia?”

“Yes sir,” the scientist said. “We followed your protocol, she’ll be bringing the kids to school this morning.”

“Thank you,” Dominik heaved a sigh of relief.

“Here,” Bradley said, approaching him with the glass extended. “Looks like you had a rough night.”

“It’s not the first time,” Dominik said curtly, reluctantly accepting the offer. The exchange lasted just a moment more than it probably needed to; his fingers brushed against Bradley’s as he took the glass and he felt his head spin a little more.

“Can I talk to you?” Bradley asked quietly, gesturing covertly to the rest of the room.

Dominik felt apprehensive, not really in the mood to spend what energy he had reassuring Bradley that he was fine. But after a drink of water, he nodded. “Give us the room,” he said to no one in particular, and what audience there was dispersed.

Once the shuffling of feet had stopped and the room was silent, Dominik watched Bradley’s expression soften. “Hell of an occupational hazard,” he said.

“You would know,” Dominik replied.

“I guess I would,” Bradley laughed, taking the glass of water back and setting it on a nearby desk. “You gave your men a good scare,” he said. “They weren’t sure if they were still going to have a job in the morning.”

“Well they’re not rid of me yet.”

“And they’re very glad to know it.” Bradley stepped back up to Dominik, taking his free hand and giving it a squeeze before releasing it again. “I’m glad to know it,” he said.

“Why are you here?” Dominik asked. “It’s the middle of the night.”

“The VDA showed up to your little stunt just in time to watch you being dragged into your own van. I came as soon as I heard. You’re lucky they didn’t follow you back.”

“It seems I’m lucky for a lot of reasons,” Dominik scoffed. “I just wish I knew who that was.”

“...I think we may have a lead on that, actually,” Bradley said. “There’s some new activity recently that the VDA has been tracking. A couple other grand theft incidents, casualties at each site.”

“Henchmen?”

“Not every time, but yes.”

Well that was curious. Of course, villains varied on how willing they were to kill outside of their intended targets. But killing off book got very messy, very quickly, and villains (successful villains, anyway) who killed without discrimination were significantly less common. Those who did were often regarded as disorganized, but somehow whoever this was didn’t quite seem to fit that description.

“This sounds like confidential information, agent,” Dominik said with a smirk. “Are you sure I have the proper clearance?”

“I want to find who did this,” Bradley shrugged, grinning back. “Call it ‘outsourcing’.”

“I’m sure the VDA would be thrilled to know about that.”

“Fuck the VDA,” Bradley said. Then, lowering his voice, “They were  _ waiting _ for you, Dom. They didn’t choose that place by accident.”

“They were after the diamond, if that’s all they wanted then I doubt I’ll ever see them again.” Dominik said.

“And what if it wasn’t?” Bradley paused, seeming to realize that his tone had grown more serious than he’d meant. “I just want to be smart about this.”

“Are you coming along with me now, robbing jewelry stores?” Dominik asked scathingly. “Please don’t  _ fret _ , I can’t stand it.”

Bradley was silent, looking Dominik’s face over. He probably hadn’t needed to be so sharp, but there was a lot he was less than pleased about at the moment.

“I’m sorry,” Dominik finally said, reaching for Bradley’s hand. “We’ll find them. Besides, it’s not as if I’m going out again soon anyway.” 

Bradley accepted Dominik’s hand, bringing it to his lips for a quick kiss. “Don’t apologize,” he said. “I want to help you. You know that, don’t you?”

Dominik nodded, although he still couldn’t fathom why. He felt Bradley start to let go of his hand, and quickly tightened his grip to keep him there. “This is going to take time for me,” he said, gaze fixed somewhere in the distance. He wasn’t entirely sure what he meant by it, a request for patience, maybe. But he knew it needed to be said.

Bradley leaned down and planted another kiss on the top of Dominik’s head. “I know, darling. You’re going to have to try much harder than that if you want to scare me off.”

He wanted to say something in response, ask if that was a challenge or tell Bradley that he wasn’t trying but he  _ could _ if he wanted him to. But he couldn’t find the energy to deliver it with any humor, so instead he resigned himself to silently appreciating the sentiment for what it was, letting the words hang uncontested.

 

\-----

 

Dominik explained his injury to his children vaguely as an accident at work and apologized for not coming home that night, that he hadn’t meant to worry them. They were growing up too quickly, and pretty soon he knew they would start becoming suspicious of what exactly his job was. It had come up before for school projects, but Barbara had always handled it with some cagey language and a hand wave. Now that she’d disappeared, he was struggling to come up with anything even marginally plausible.

It had been just over a month since she left. That was another thing that was difficult to explain; he really hadn’t planned on her being gone for quite this long. The excuse that she’d gone to visit her aunt was losing credibility every day. He was either going to have to come up with another excuse or tell them the truth.

Seeing Bradley was also gradually becoming more and more difficult. Dominik suspected the VDA was beginning to wonder about the time unaccounted for when he was gone most days.

“You’re lucky,” Bradley said to him one morning as they sat on the roof of the lair, “being self-employed, making your own hours.”

Dominik let out a loud laugh. “You could be ‘self-employed’ too, but I’m not sure the line of work would suit you.”

Bradley laughed with him, a light, insouciant laugh that went all the way to his eyes and made Dominik feel like some of the charred parts of his heart were being scraped away.

“You don’t need to keep doing this, you know,” he said. “I’d rather only see you once in a while than risk… whatever will happen when they figure out where you’ve been off to every day.” The honesty of his own statement and the ease with which he’d said it surprised him, and he realized it was the first time he’d admitted to wanting to spend time together. Bradley was wearing him down, it seemed.

“Let me worry about that,” Bradley said, wrapping an arm around Dominik’s waist and pulling himself closer. The nearness felt more comfortable than he’d expected, and Dominik leaned into it.

A thought occurred to him, one he’d been pushing aside since the first time Bradley mentioned it, but now felt somehow less offensive. He chewed on it carefully, weighing the possible outcomes, the consequences. The potential for bad still markedly outweighed the good.

What the hell.

“Come over,” he said before he had the chance to stop himself. “To the house. Tonight.”

Bradley pulled back to look at him. “...Are you sure?”

“Yes.” Not really, but if he thought about it too hard he knew he was likely to change his mind. “...If you’re free, of course. If not, we can --”

“No, no, of course I’m free,” Bradley said, waving his hand to stop whatever train of thought Dominik was on. “Of course I’ll come over.” He placed a hand gently on the side of Dominik’s face. “I thought you’d never ask,” he said, grinning and leaning forward to brush his lips lightly against Dominik’s.

Dominik almost shrank back. It would have been a reflexive action; he was already on guard after taking the risk of asking Bradley over. Instead, he found himself frozen, not reacting in either direction.

Bradley retreated, obviously sensing the lack of response. “Sorry,” he said. “Sorry, I… I was just. I thought you -- I should have asked, I’m sorry. Are you --”

“Then ask,” Dominik said.

Bradley stopped himself mid-sentence, studying Dominik’s face cautiously. “...Can I kiss you?”

“...Yes.” Dominik felt his heart attempting to beat out of his chest and wondered if his answer could even be heard over it, but any questions he had blipped out of existence when Bradley’s lips were on his again. This time, he let himself fall into it. 

Any fears or anxieties, suspicions or doubts were all completely forgotten. The VDA, the lair, Barbara... all of it seemed lightyears away. The only thing in the whole universe that was real, the only thing that made any difference, was this.


	2. Chapter 2

Dominik left work early, feeling sick. Maybe inviting Bradley over hadn’t been such a wise move. Impossibly attractive or not, Bradley Ellington was an agent of the VDA. Regardless of Dominik’s feelings, regardless of Bradley’s intentions, if the VDA caught wind of what was happening here then anything Dominik considered personal information was completely up for grabs. He wasn’t just putting himself at risk by doing this, he was endangering his children.

He stood in front of the telephone, staring it at it where it sat on the bedside table. How could he have been so stupid? He had to cancel this. He had to call Bradley and cancel this. He had to pick up the phone, dial Bradley’s number and tell him not to come.

Just. _Pick up the phone_.

He took a breath and yanked the phone out of its cradle, dialing each number as quickly as possible before he had a chance to reconsider.

It rang once. Twice.

Bradley was probably still at work, he should have waited.

Three times.

He should just try again later. Assuming he still had any sense of --

“Hello?”

_Shit_ . “Hey -- hello! Hi, it’s me. It’s, uh. It’s Dom.” _Well done_.

“Hey!” Bradley said, his tone shifting into something comfortable, warm. “I was just thinking about you. I can’t wait to see you tonight.”

Something about it made Dominik’s nerves stop jumping, just for a moment, and he couldn’t help but smile.

But no. He had to do this. For his kids.

“That’s ah. That’s what I wanted to talk to you about,” he said, feeling like he might choke on the words.

“I can bring something if you’d like. I’m not much of a cook, but if you want me to stop on the way over I’m happy to pick something up. Just tell me what you need.”

Dominik could already feel his resolve crumbling. Bradley sounded so… happy. His voice was brimming with unfettered excitement, so different from the mysterious, suave veneer he’d constructed for his time on the clock.

“Actually, I --” he started, snapping himself back to the reality of the situation.

“Do your kids like pineapple? The bakery down the street from me makes an unbelievable upside down cake, I can pick one of those up if they do.”

“Bradley, you don’t have to --”

“I want to,” he said, tone suddenly sober. “Please.”

He knew what he was doing. Dominik shook his head, letting out a deep sigh. Of course he knew what he was doing.

“Please,” Bradley said again. “I promise I won’t let you down.”

_You’d better not_ , Dominik wanted to say. He wanted to threaten him, intimidate him somehow, anything to make him understand what a risk this was. He really shouldn’t even give him the opportunity to let him down in the first place. The smart thing would be to simply tell him no, this was a mistake. But when he reached for the words, for the fortitude to turn him away, he came up wholly empty-handed. So he settled for simply saying, “Just...don’t be late.”

_And don’t make me regret this_.

“Great,” Bradley said, clearly relieved. “I’ll see you at 6:30, then?”

“Perfect,” Dominik said. “See you then.”

\-----

At 6:35, Dominik sat at the dining room table with Alex and Lizzie, the table set, food in the warming tray in the kitchen.

There was probably terrible traffic. Bradley had stopped at the bakery, found that they were out of the damned upside down cake, and he couldn’t decide what else to get. Or maybe he forgot something at home and had to turn around. It was only five minutes, maybe his watch was slow and he didn’t realize that he was actually running late.

“Can we go watch TV, papa?” Lizzie asked at 6:45.

“He’ll be here any minute,” Dominik said. “...Alright, but as soon as he’s here you’re both right back at the table. Understand?”

At 7, Dominik made the decision to go ahead and call. Anything could have happened, there was no need to make assumptions. But the phone rang. And rang. And rang.

When 7:15 rolled around, Dominik served Alex and Lizzie. They would need to be in bed soon, and there was no reason to disturb their schedules just because of...whatever was happening here.

He put them to bed at 8:30 and sat alone at the dining room table, looking at the extra place setting where Barbara once sat. Something had happened. Something must have happened. He’d been called away by the VDA and didn’t have time to explain. That was the most probable explanation; considering anything else would be a rabbit hole of what-ifs and undue worry.

Still, as excited as Bradley had made himself sound, it seemed like he would have been more willing to decline a job. Just for tonight.

At 9:00, Dominik put away the rest of the food. He didn’t think he could have eaten, even if he wanted to. Even if Bradley had been there on time, even if everything had gone completely according to schedule, the entire situation was far too nerve-wracking to encourage any sort of appetite.

He washed the dishes, staring at his vague reflection in the dark window. Despite every rational explanation he told himself was likely to have happened, he couldn’t help but feel like he should have seen this coming. It fell well within the realm of things too good to be true. What a shocking surprise it was that it didn’t work out. He imagined Bradley in the VDA offices with all of his pompous secret agent friends having the laugh of a lifetime at how easily he’d seduced his arch nemesis, how little effort it took to get an invitation to his house, where his family lived.

Upside down cake, what a fucking joke.

If they were laughing right now, it was well-deserved. The entire story was farcical, and Dominik had played right into it the whole time. He felt the heat rise in his face, fierce shame taking over. He’d let Ellington so close without even a second thought, shown him weaknesses he’d never shown his own wife; how could he not have expected it to backfire?

Lost in his thoughts, seething in frustration, he threw the plate he was washing down into the sink. It cracked, ceramic chips breaking off and slipping down the drain.

He shut off the water and closed his eyes, resting his palms on the edge of the counter. _So much for not jumping to conclusions_ , he thought. For all he knew, Bradley was dead on the side of the road somewhere while he stood here victimizing himself for no reason.

Whatever had happened, he was sure it would be cleared up in the morning. Bradley would call, give some completely understandable excuse, apologize profusely, and Dominik would feel like an ass for ever having doubts. All he had to do was sleep through the night. Somehow.

\-----

The morning took its time arriving. It trudged through Dominik’s bedroom window, setting his alarm off even as he stared at the clock. He used to be so good at compartmentalizing. The things he struggled with in his career rarely made it through his front door and practically never followed him to bed. Barbara had probably been right to leave; he was falling apart, and she must not have wanted to watch. How could he blame her for that?

He dragged himself through his new morning routine, making coffee for himself, setting out breakfast for the children, dressing and taking them to school. It felt strangely comforting to still have someone he needed to pretend for. Without Alex and Lizzie, he might still be at home mindlessly slaughtering his tableware.

At his lair, he approached the first henchman in his path.

“Have there been any calls?” he asked.

“No, sir.”

“Thank you,” Dominik said. The situation may not have magically cleared itself up the way he’d hoped, but there were still some occupational benefits to villainy that might help it along.

“You,” he said, pointing at one of his men at a computer, “and you,” he said, pointing at Cooper. “How easily can we view the VDA’s active cases?”

“I should be able to pull that up in a few minutes, sir,” the man at the computer said. “They regularly alter their security system, but once I’ve breached it then it would be a matter of seconds.”

“Excellent,” Dominik said. “I need a list of all active cases starting from yesterday. And make sure they include the agent they’re assigned to.”

“Yes sir.”

“Cooper, with me please.” Dominik led the henchman to his office, shutting the door behind him and sitting at his desk, gesturing at the chair opposite him for Cooper to take a seat. He looked at him in silence for a moment, collecting his thoughts before speaking. “I want to talk to you, but I want your word that what we say in here will never leave this room.”

“Of course, sir.”

“Say it.”

“What we talk about will never leave this room, sir,” Cooper replied solemnly and without hesitation. This was why Dominik favored him. He nodded and relaxed into his chair.

“What do you think about Agent Bradley Ellington, Cooper?” he asked.

“...I’m not sure what you mean, sir,” Cooper said, shifting in his seat.

“What do you know of his reputation? What do people say about him?”

Cooper chewed his lip. “Permission to speak freely, sir?”

“Yes, please do.”

“Everyone knows you’ve been seeing each other, if that’s what you’re asking, sir.”

It was and it wasn’t. He knew he hadn’t exactly been discreet at the lair, not to mention his expertly tactful confession of love in the middle of the room the night he intended to kill Bradley Ellington. “Yes,” he said. “We have been. What do you think of that?”

“It’s not my place to think anything about it, sir.”

“No, no,” Dominik said with a hand wave. “Tell me what you think. Tell me what all of you think. I’ve already given you permission to speak your mind, now do it.”

“I think…” Cooper said, pursing his lips. “I think it’s nice, sir.”

“Nice.” Dominik echoed.

“Yes, sir. I think...everyone thinks you seem happy. Sir.” Cooper explained.

“Is that so?” He supposed there were worse ways to perceive the whole thing. But that didn’t tell him quite what he needed to know. He leaned forward, folding his hands together. “How much do you _know_ about Ellington?”

“Only what’s in his file: late thirties, English father who died in the war, Irish mother who survives, joined the VDA when he was 25, proficient marksman--”

“Do you trust him?” Dominik interrupted. That was the heart of it, he supposed. All of these little details recorded for posterity in the VDA’s files added up to one man, and somewhere in there had to be something that indicated whether or not Dominik had made a mistake. Right?

“I’ve never thought about it, sir,” Cooper said. “...If you trust him, I suppose I do too.”

Dominik shook his head. “Given what you know about him from his file, would you trust him? If you were to be in a situation where you needed to, do you think you could?” He was pressing Cooper and he knew it, but he had to know. He needed a direct answer.

Cooper didn’t say anything at first, maybe sensing a trap. “With all due respect, sir,” he said finally, “I don’t think I can answer that.”

Dominik slammed a palm on the desk and Cooper flinched. “I need to know,” he said, raising his voice. “Would you trust him?”

“Yes, sir,” Cooper responded immediately.

Dominik sat back, a little surprised at how quickly the answer had come. “You would trust him,” he repeated, lowering his voice again. “Why?” Probably because he wanted the interrogation to end. There were definitely better ways he could have handled that.

“Because you trust him,” he said.

“What makes you think _I_ trust him?”

“Because you’re careful. You would never let him in if you weren’t positive.”

...It had to take some serious hubris to be reassured by your own personality, but sure enough, Cooper’s words hushed the doubt that had been eating Dominik up all night. He was right. As much as he felt like he’d been slowly losing his mind, maybe there were some habits that persisted even when he wasn’t paying attention. The deliberation with which he’d selected his team, the careful consideration he’d applied to everything from who constructed his lair to who babysat his children -- he was nothing if not cautious.

Everything with Bradley had felt so out of control, so unpredictable and dangerous, but maybe part of himself had still found some shred of judiciousness that determined Bradley to be trustworthy.

“...I apologize, Cooper,” Dominik said with a sigh. “I didn’t bring you in here to yell at you.”

“No, sir,” Cooper said. “There’s nothing to forgive, sir.”

Dominik smiled kindly. “Thank you, you’ve put my mind at ease.” For now, anyway. He considered explaining what had transpired the night before, maybe some context would make this encounter a little easier for Cooper to understand, but before he could say anything else there was a knock on the door.

“Yes, come in,” he said.

The computer henchman stuck his head in the room. “I have the active missions, sir.” He held out a manila folder to Cooper, who accepted it and immediately began browsing through.

“Thank you, you’re dismissed,” Dominik said, and the door shut again. He looked at Cooper. “Is his name on any of those?”

Cooper was silent for a few more seconds as he finished scanning the list. “No, sir. No missions from yesterday have Ellington’s name.”

Dominik felt his heart sink. He hadn’t been on a mission, he hadn’t called, he hadn’t shown up for dinner. Something was wrong. Really wrong.

“There is something...strange here, though,” Cooper mused as he continued reading.

“What? What is it?”

“Well, if you look here--” he set the open folder on the desk, angling it to where Dominik could read and pointing at a small paragraph at the top of one page, “these are from this morning. An agent was dispatched to investigate--”

“A missing agent,” Dominik finished.

Cooper looked up at him, frowning as the pieces came together. “An investigation isn’t normally launched unless an agent has gone dark for days, sir. Ellington just visited yesterday. It can’t be him.”

That was probably true. There was no reason to assume the worst just because an agent showed up late for work. But even so, Dominik couldn’t shake the nagging feeling in his gut. Cooper was right, he did choose his friends carefully. And using that as an anchor point, it was extremely suspicious that Bradley had been so eager to come over, then disappeared without a word or warning.

“I want everything about this investigation as it happens,” he said. “This is the top priority right now, as many men as it takes.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Dismissed. ...Thank you again, Cooper,” he added.

Cooper nodded earnestly and walked out.

Dominik watched the door shut behind him and closed his eyes, exhaling. He wasn’t sure how, but he knew it with absolute certainty. Bradley was that missing agent. Part of him wanted to be furious with Bradley for losing a fight to anyone other than him. He was better than that, Dominik _knew_ he was better than that, how could he have let that happen?

But another part of him saw Bradley, stopped off at a bakery with a boxed up upside down cake in one hand and his keys in the other, caught off guard in the parking lot when his mind was on anything other than a fight.

It was absurd for Dominik to think that what had happened was somehow all his fault. That sort of thinking had always irritated him; it was a level of self-importance he couldn’t tolerate, to take an event that happened by sheer chance and decide that you had somehow caused it.

Even so, Bradley wouldn’t have been there if Dominik had gone through with canceling on him. Or better yet, never offered to have him over in the first place. It was a line he’d irrevocably crossed, and now this had happened. Whether the two things were related or not was debatable, but the fact remained: no one knew where Bradley Ellington was.

\-----

At first, Dominik felt a bit guilty for taking so many men off of their current projects. As certain as he was about his assessment of the situation, there wasn’t any solid evidence yet that he could provide to any of them to justify his motives, and ten men might have been a little excessive for the job. But this was _his_ lair, and really, what was it all for if he couldn’t freely tell his men to switch tracks on a whim?

Naturally, no one questioned him. They’d been monitoring VDA activity for a few hours when a henchman approached him with an urgent message: Vergoldetschnauz Enterprises had appeared as a top priority mission on their agenda. An agent was on his way as they spoke.

Dominik sighed. This was all-around bad news. The only up-side to this was that now he had an official confirmation that what he’d suspected was true. Which was hardly an up-side. The VDA were looking for Bradley Ellington, and they’d decided that maybe the evil Dr. Vergoldetschnauz was hoping to finish what he’d started the night Bradley “got away”. He _really_ didn’t have time to explain why that was not remotely the case.

Nevertheless, he told his men to allow one agent clearance to enter, if only to clarify for them in no uncertain terms that Bradley Ellington was not in the building.

Dominik stood in the middle of the atrium, watching his men escort the agent to him. He wore the usual tux, but he was a bit younger than Bradley, late twenties at the most. New to the agency, probably, but why send fresh meat to the lair of the man who nearly killed one of their best?

“How nice of you to join us,” Dominik said. “It seems we have something in common today, agent…”

“Agent Howard,” he replied icily. “And what would that be?”

“You’ve come to find Agent Ellington, have you not?” Dominik paced before him, hands behind his back. “I regret to inform you, you won’t find him here.”

The agent narrowed his eyes at him. “Then this was a trap,” he said.

Dominik stopped midstep.  _Interesting_. “And what makes you say that, Agent Howard?”

Howard rolled his eyes. “Very clever, Doctor. How did you know Ellington was missing?”

“I asked you a question,” Dominik said, turning on his heel to face him. “Answer it.”

“10:00 this morning we received a transmission that Ellington was being held captive,” Howard said. “It was signed ‘Vergoldetschnauz’.”

_That_ was curious. He could have understood an anonymous tip they assumed to be from him, but a signed message with his name on it was...unsettling, actually. Too many strange things had happened in too short of a time for all of it to be coincidental. There was something connecting all of it. Something...someone? It all felt too nebulous, he needed to sit down with all of the information in front of him --

“...It wasn’t you, was it?” Howard said, and Dominik realized he’d been silent for too long. Any pretense he’d hoped would obfuscate his intentions just deflated before his eyes.

“No,” he said. “No, it wasn’t.”

Agent Howard watched him for a few more moments before speaking again. “I think it’s time for me to leave, Doctor.” He tried to pull away from the henchmen keeping him in place, and Dominik nodded at them to let him go. Brushing off the sleeves of his coat, he looked at Dominik again. “Let us know if you hear anything,” he said.

Dominik almost laughed. “Certainly, agent,” he managed, letting out only a hint of a smile.

A few henchmen followed the agent off of the premises and Dominik retreated to his office, confused as ever. He tried to lay the facts out: First, that Bradley was missing. Second, that someone had contacted the VDA about it. Third, that they had used his name.

Was it intentional misdirection? Why contact the VDA at all if you only wanted to point them the wrong way? They wanted the attention, that was the only rational explanation. Taking Ellington wasn’t enough, they wanted someone to come after him.

Why use Dominik’s name, though? It could be a coincidence, but of all the agents to target and all the villains to blame…

Someone knew. They had to. And whoever it was didn’t want the VDA. It wasn’t misdirection, it was a message.

They wanted him.

He couldn’t fathom what he’d done to piss off another villain, but --

But there obviously _was_ something. He rubbed a hand absently over his still-healing shoulder. Of course. He’d been ready to let the entire incident at the jewelry store go, having no evidence pointing him toward the identity of the shooter and still being a little skeptical that it was some conspiracy to foil the construction of his latest invention.

Now he was less certain. Maybe Bradley had been right, maybe they _had_ been waiting for him. It seemed preposterous to think that someone, somewhere out there had such a deeply personal vendetta against him that they would go to these lengths to get his attention, but at this point it seemed very likely. And if his attention was what they wanted, they absolutely had it now.

He pushed his chair back and stood, throwing his door open and pointing at the closest henchman at a computer. “Find that transmission,” he said. “I want to know everything about it: where it came from, when it was sent, who sent it. Everything.”

“Yes, sir,” the henchman said, setting to work.

Dominik took his place at the top of the steps to address the room. “Excuse me!” he said, putting a hand in the air. “Thank you, all of you, for your cooperation today! I want to apologize for pulling you all away from your tasks, however, due to recent developments, this is now a top-level priority. This is highly time-sensitive, so I’m going to request that some of you work through the night. If any of you have obligations to attend to at home, please come see me so that we can work out a temporary schedule change.

“It’s come to my attention that whomever is responsible for Agent Bradley Ellington’s disappearance likely has personal information about me, and by extension, my family, so I’ll be putting together 5-man shifts to work security detail at my house until this is resolved. For those of you not working that detail, your entire focus should be on locating Agent Ellington. I want eyes on every correspondence in and out of the VDA, I want information about every case he’s worked in the last three years. We’re looking for repeat appearances and other patterns that stand out. I’m putting Cooper in charge of fielding questions and flagged cases, so if you need anything then you’ll be reporting to him. Thank you, that’s all.”

He turned his back to the room and shut himself in his office again. He didn’t like games, he didn’t like cryptic clues intended to draw him out and into a trap. Because that’s what this was, wasn’t it? They’d tried to catch his eye before with minimal success, so the next step had been to find something he couldn’t ignore. By taking Bradley captive they’d started the clock, and now it was only a matter of time before they would have Dominik exactly where they wanted him

He wished he could leave Bradley to his fate, decide that the agent was a capable fighter and would find his way out eventually, but the truth was that he wasn’t sure he would. Everything about this felt disturbingly premeditated, and if Bradley wasn’t enough to get his attention, there was no reason for his captor not to kill him on the spot.

The thought twisted in Dominik’s gut, and he laughed wryly at himself. How far removed he was from the man hell-bent on ending Bradley Ellington’s life, that now he was willing to risk whatever was necessary to save him. But he was worth it, Dominik realized. He was worth all of it.

Closing his eyes, he let himself fall back into the memory of the morning before, the ghost of Bradley’s lips still resting on his. Any apprehension he felt disappeared. Damn the games, damn the traps. He couldn’t lose him. He wouldn’t. As long as there was blood in his veins and air in his lungs, he wasn’t going to stop until he found Bradley Ellington.


	3. Chapter 3

About an hour after he’d given the orders, Cooper came to Dominik with a brief rundown of developments. A couple possible leads but nothing conclusive, and the transmission the VDA received was heavily encrypted. They were working to pick it apart, but it was slow going.

Dominik tried to quell the anxiety swelling in his chest. This wasn’t going to solve itself any faster than it already was, and trying to rush it was never going to work because there was nothing to rush. So far he’d done a pretty remarkable job abstaining from thoughts about where Bradley might be and what condition he might be in, but the longer this went on, the harder that became.

He wasn’t used to this. Usually, when confronted with an issue, there was something to be done about it. Sometimes that meant demolishing a building, sometimes it meant the assassination of particular individuals. But there had always been a solution, either obvious or uncovered with minimal effort. And it had never been personal. Not like this, anyway. It was unnerving. He felt weak, useless, and he hated it.

His mind wandered back to the operation at the jewelry store, scanning the memory for the hundredth time for any detail that stuck out. He’d lost good men that night, sent them directly into the spider’s web without a second thought. And why wouldn’t he have? He had no reason to suspect that anyone would be there, never mind anyone who had set out to get in his way.

They’d reviewed surveillance footage from the alley outside the store again and again, but whoever he’d run into had covered up completely. No skin or hair stuck out, just black cloth dissolving into the night. Still… looking at it again would at least give him something to occupy his mind. Yes. That’s what he should do.

He pulled it up on his computer, leaning forward to focus. He watched himself following his men down the alley, taking up his spot on the wall as they entered the store. The door had closed behind them initially, but after a couple moments it reopened. The intruder propped it open and looked around the corner before retreating back into the darkness. They had looked right at him and he didn’t even notice. He’d been too busy staring at his damn watch.

He saw himself staring apprehensively through the doorway, drawing his weapon, stepping inside. He watched the door slam shut. Then, just seconds later, the door flew open and the intruder ran out.

He paused the video, leaning even closer to the screen. The answer was there, somewhere. Whoever that was had Bradley. He rewinded, played again, rewinded again and played again. They were small, a younger man, maybe? And fast. Nimble. 

It just didn’t make any sense. He’d always felt like he’d kept to himself pretty well. If he’d crossed paths with another villain, it had been by accident and entirely forgettable. Maybe it was someone out to avenge one of Dominik’s victims? That could be, he supposed, and if it was, they had a very promising career in villainy.

But even that felt wrong. If someone had a bone to pick with him, why go through the VDA? They clearly had been able to access Dominik’s system or they never would have known he was planning to be at the jeweler’s. So why not just send the message directly to him?

He stared at the shape of the intruder, studying every contour, every shadow. Who are you?

A knock on his door nearly startled him out of his chair. “Yes! Yes, come in,” he said, exhaling to try and slow his heart rate.

“Sir, I think we have something,” Cooper said.

Dominik shoved his chair back and stood without another word, quickly following Cooper to a henchman at his computer. On his screen was a map of the coastline roughly 50 miles from where they were, with a circle encompassing about 10 miles of it.

“We haven’t been able to pull out exact coordinates, sir,” the henchman said, “but we were able to narrow down the transmission’s point of origin to somewhere in this radius.”

He knew that coastline, beyond a basic understanding of local geography. He’d been there. Multiple times. ...His vacation home was there.

His vacation home was there.

He felt the blood draining from his face. That’s where they were. He knew it. They knew enough about him and his family to find the house and they’d sent the message from there to let him know that they did. They wanted to scare him.

He wished he could say it hadn’t worked, but if they knew that much, what was to say they hadn’t gone after Barbara too? What if his kids were next?

This had to stop. Now. If this was their only lead, then it looked like he was taking a little trip to the beach.

“Cooper,” he said evenly, “I’m afraid I’m going to need to ask you quite a large favor…”

\-----

Dominik hadn’t had very many opportunities to use his amphibiglobe. Generally speaking, most of his missions were best traveled to via helicopter or car, but this seemed like a perfectly good excuse to break this one out. In fact, it was almost certainly the only way he could get to the island undetected. Even if his arrival was expected, laying low was absolutely crucial. Any amount of time he could go unseen was an enormous help. He only hoped he’d interpreted all of this correctly and it wasn’t a massive waste of his time. Of Bradley’s time.

He did have a few men on reserve waiting to be called in if necessary, but for the sake of stealth he thought it best to go in alone. Maybe he wasn’t 100% sure what to expect, but whatever this was was clearly personal. There was no reason to sacrifice his men if all this person wanted was him.

Cooper had dutifully obliged to picking up Alex and Lizzie from school and staying with them until Dominik returned. He’d given him careful instructions to follow should the worst happen, but assuming everything worked out in his favor it was just an impromptu babysitting gig. With a rotating 5-man security detail right outside. Completely normal.

The excuse he’d asked Cooper to tell his children was that he’d been called away on an unexpected business emergency, and that he was very sorry but promised to make it up to them when he came back. It was simple enough and it was the truth, though his worst fear was that they would think he was leaving the way their mother did. But this wasn’t a suicide mission. He fully intended to come back. And he was bringing Bradley home with him.

The amphibglobe surfaced on the northeastern shore of the island and Dominik climbed out, taking a moment to look up at the house that felt like it was built in another lifetime. About 7 or 8 years ago, he’d come here with Barbara on a whim after almost driving past it and found the property for sale by owner. It was a quaint 10 acres, and upon seeing all the open space, Barbara had fantasized aloud of a charming cottage where she could have her morning coffee watching the sunrise over the waves. He remembered her face as she spoke, building it already in her mind even as the words came out. He would have done anything for her then, and he did. He bought the island the next day and by the time their anniversary rolled around, he was able to surprise her with her dream home. They’d planned to move into it someday, but it was never the right time. Now it probably never would be.

As he drew closer to the house, he stopped off behind a tree to try and get a better idea of what he was walking into. Through binoculars, everything seemed just as quiet as it did without them. The blinds were open, but there were no signs of life inside.

Part of him couldn’t help but consider that maybe he really had miscalculated. In his eagerness to rescue Bradley, he’d jumped on the first lead that felt the least bit substantial and now here he was, sneaking up on his own house like an idiot. But another, louder part of him knew otherwise, and the closer he got, the more certain he was that everything about this had been carefully crafted by someone who knew exactly what they were doing.

But they had made one mistake, one grievous, irreparable mistake, in picking a fight with Dominik. And as soon as Bradley was safe, he planned to make sure they knew it.

The side door was unlocked when he tried it. He drew his ray gun and stepped quietly into the kitchen, casting furtive glances around the room and through the doorway to the hall. The house was completely, eerily silent. He walked cautiously to the hall, looking around the corner, ready to fire immediately upon seeing anyone. But no one was there. The living room, the den, the front hall, the sun room. All of it was empty. He walked back to the hallway by the kitchen and looked up the staircase, holding his breath and just listening.

Utter silence. Not a cricket, not a fly, not a gust of wind creaking in a window. Then, somewhere in the distance, a quiet buzzing followed by...what was that? A voice? An animal, maybe, but paired with the other sound...it had to be a voice. He listened for it to happen again. Some seconds passed, then, sure enough.

He took a few steps up the stairs to see if it got louder, and when it happened again... it sounded like it was coming from below. That shouldn’t be possible, their house had no basement. But when he heard it again there was no denying it: it was definitely coming from below.

He decided to set his disbelief aside. Just for the moment, he decided to ignore how improbable it was that some angry survivor of one of his attacks had found his vacation home (on an island) and decided to build a basement onto it (below sea level) simply to exact their revenge. It didn’t matter that it made absolutely no sense whatsoever. The sound he heard came from under the house, so he needed to find a way to get down there.

Dominik began searching each room for anything that might have been a hidden door or a trigger to open one. Every thirty seconds or so the sound repeated, growing just slightly louder the closer he got to the den. It was more identifiable now, but as soon as it occurred to him what he might be hearing, it ceased. Somehow the ongoing silence was more unsettling.

The entrance had to be in there somewhere. He built this house, or at least designed it, and had spent a fair amount of time here; it should have been easy to look around the room and notice something different. Especially something as different as the modifications that must have been made to accomodate a new door. But everything looked...exactly the same. Exactly the same.

Circling the perimeter of the room, he scanned each wall and bookshelf for any sort of telltale sign. Nothing stood out. He tried to swallow his frustration and focus, but the futility of it was definitely starting to get to him. 

He dropped himself into an armchair and stared up at the ceiling, forcing his thoughts into order. If he had decided to build a secret basement under this house, where would he have hidden the entrance? Behind a bookshelf, fireplace, under a rug, maybe? He sat up straight to reevaluate the room, but all he could see in every corner was the time he’d spent here with Barbara. Mornings reading the paper, evenings drinking wine and laughing.

Had he fallen for Bradley and then grown distant from Barbara? Or had the distance existed already, crept in when he wasn’t paying attention? It was without question one of the least responsible decisions he’d made in his adult life, but he couldn’t find it in himself to regret it. Still, he remembered the feeling of staring into the empty closet after Barbara left and --

Wait a second.

The closet hadn’t been wallpapered, so a seam in the paint stood out. But here, in this room covered with a dull floral pattern, a seam would be as typical as the drywall it covered up. It was a guess out of left field, but at this point Dominik felt willing to try anything. He stood and turned his attention to one of the inner walls, following it until he found a seam in the wallpaper. Then, holding his breath, he pressed gently.

Click.

A small section of the wall came ajar and Dominik sighed in relief. He pulled it the rest of the way open and found himself looking down a short industrial metal staircase that led to a landing before turning the corner out of sight. If this was the way in, it was likely the only way in. He readied his gun, took a breath and started down the stairs.

Around the corner, the room opened up into an atrium with rocky walls. Looking out over it, the first thing Dominik saw was a large contraption with what looked like blue tendrils of electricity holding a man by his shackled wrists and ankles. Bradley. He looked significantly worse for wear, clothes bloodied and hair hanging over his face. He seemed to be unconscious. Dominik prayed he was just unconscious.

The next thing he noticed was that, other than Bradley, the room was completely vacant. There were a few desks with computers and empty chairs scattered around and whatever was restraining Bradley gave the room a humming ambience, but other than that there were no signs of life.

Dominik shook his head, laughing wryly to himself as he quietly descended the rest of the stairs. If they thought he would see Bradley and run blindly into their little ambush, they were sorely mistaken. If getting Bradley out of here meant destroying every single person in this building then so be it, but he wasn’t going to be taken by surprise when someone inevitably --

“There he is!” a voice said from the shadows on the other side of the room. “So glad you could finally join us, we’ve been waiting quite a while.”

He knew that voice. Intimately. It didn’t make any sense, but…

“...Barbara?”

“Did you miss me, darling?” she said, stepping out into the light. Under any other circumstances, Dominik might never have recognized her. Her hair, usually perfectly curled and styled, was pulled tightly up into a bun. She wore a militant-looking jumpsuit with the legs tucked firmly into black combat boots. If she was aiming to emulate a villain, she passed with flying colors.

“Barbara…” Dominik said again, stunned, frantically trying to put the pieces together in his head. He felt like he should be ashamed of not anticipating this, even in a strangest-case scenario, but at the same time he wasn’t sure what could have possibly prepared him for it. The fact that he couldn’t come up with a shred of a possible indication was enormously frustrating. And then there was the part of him, buried somewhere deep inside, hoping beyond hope that this was all some huge misunderstanding.

But he knew it wasn’t.

“Come now, Dominik,” Barbara said, taking a few steps closer. “It can’t be that shocking, can it?”

Words still failed him. She had been away from home for quite a while, but...not long enough for all of this. How long had she been working on this? How had he never noticed anything different about her?

“Hmm,” she said, tilting her head inquisitively. “I’m curious to know, what about this is the most baffling part to you, Dom? Is it the renovations? You didn’t think I was capable of taking on such a complicated project?” She looked around the room, hands on her hips. “I think it turned out rather well, all things considered.” Looking back at Dominik, she shook her head. “Is it me? Is this look too masculine for you? Oh, no,” she tutted, “that can’t be it. You’re rather partial to that, aren’t you? I have to say,” Barbara looked back at Bradley, hanging limp where he was held. “You could do much worse. At least you have decent taste, I suppose.”

“Whatever this is, it’s between us,” Dominik finally managed.

“Or is it simply that I would ever do such terrible, terrible things?” Barbara continued as if he’d never said a word. “Spying? Kidnapping? Murder?”

“Let him go, Barbara.”

“So he can run back to the VDA with his tail between his legs? So he can point his grubby fingers and ruin everything I’ve built for myself?” The level of disgust in her voice seemed to rise with every word. “So he can stroll right into our home, where our children are, and take my place in our bed?” 

“You left!” Dominik shouted back.

“So what? You have a mental breakdown and start fucking the enemy? Have you lost your mind? The moment your back is turned, he’s going to destroy you, Dom. He’ll destroy us, our family. I can’t let that happen. I won’t let your hideous poor judgement bring down everything we’ve worked for.” 

With that, and a small gesture of her hand, Dominik felt his arms wrenched behind his back by henchmen he hadn’t even noticed enter the room. 

“This is for your own good,” she said, watching coldly as they patted him down, confiscating his gun and a knife. They passed the weapons off to another henchmen, who disappeared with them into the next room.

At least he still his radio to call for backup, which, given the number of henchmen Barbara had on hand, would almost certainly be needed. He had opted to make this one small, not easily detected, as a cufflink. There was no way anyone would --

“And the coat,” Barbara said. Just as abruptly as his arms had been grabbed, his coat was pulled off and taken away as well.

So much for that.

“It pains me, Dominik,” she said, coming closer, close enough that, if his hands were free, he could reach out and touch her. Or knock her to the ground, which seemed like the better option at this point. “It pains me that it’s come to this.”

“It didn’t have to,” Dominik said. “You could have come to me, we could have --”

“Talked about it?” Barbara laughed venomously. “I can’t remember a time in the last five years that you’ve been mentally present for a single conversation we’ve had. I lost you a long, long time ago, and I was too afraid to admit it. I guess I thought somehow that your deficiencies as a husband and a father were a reflection of my own abilities.” She gestured again and Dominik felt his arm twisted, up and forward, a foot driving itself into the back of his knee so his legs buckled and he fell to the ground. “I know much better now.”

“So now what?” Dominik asked through gritted teeth as he knelt on the concrete, trying to ignore the pain shooting up his arm. “Are you going to kill us?”

“Maybe,” she said with a shrug, “but I’d rather not, truth be told. I believe there’s a compromise we can come to, some sort of a business arrangement perhaps.”

“Fine,” Dominik said. “Let Bradley go and we can talk about whatever you want.”

“Oh no,” Barbara laughed again, this time out of genuine amusement. “No, no. Agent Ellington has to die. Do you really think there’s a place for a VDA agent in an agreement between villains? Oh, Dom.” She looked over Dominik’s face fondly, the way one might look at a child who’d made some silly error, lingering there as if momentarily reliving a memory. 

“Well!” she said at last, “Might as well get that over with.” She turned her back to Dominik and approached the console connected to Bradley’s restraints. “You’ve done well, agent, but unfortunately you’re no longer needed.”

“No!” Dominik struggled against the henchman holding him and was met with a kick to the back, laying him flat, face-down on the ground with a knee in his spine. The air was pushed out of his lungs, and when he regained his senses he could hear the growing hum of electricity as the console warmed up to deliver what was sure to be the fatal shock. Assuming Bradley wasn’t already dead. He tried to jerk his arms away from the henchman, but each attempt only resulted in that knee pushing deeper into his spine until he could barely breathe.

From where he lay he could see the agent, still unconscious. Maybe he would never know what was happening, maybe it would just...end quickly for him. Dominik found himself wishing more than anything that they’d been able to have that dinner. Even if it was only once, just to know what it would have been like to sit across the table from him with Alex and Lizzie, safe and comfortable. But he knew that he didn’t deserve it, and maybe this was always going to be the result of deluding himself into thinking that there was any chance he did. He was a villain, a witless fool of a villain, who had apparently given in to madness and fallen for his nemesis. The tragedy practically wrote itself.

But just as the first crackling of electricity threatened, a voice shouted down from the top of the stairs.

“Everybody get on the ground, now!” Loud and gruff, demanding in an irritating sort of way, like the cliche script of some tired war movie.

The VDA. 

They must have tracked him somehow. In his haste to get to Bradley… Jesus, how many oversights had he made? If there was any chance of getting out of this alive, maybe it was time to consider retirement. Clearly his mind was going, fast.

The knee in Dominik’s back retreated, and Dominik coughed involuntarily, trying to catch his breath. A shot rang out, then another, and another. If he tried to stand now, he was likely to take another bullet. As much fun as that had been once, Dominik decided he wasn’t interested in repeating the experience. Instead he stayed on the ground, palms flat against the floor and ready to move as soon as it seemed like a good idea.

There was surprisingly less commotion than Dominik expected, for a shootout between the VDA and an adept team of henchmen. It seemed like there should have been a little more gunfire, more sounds of struggle, more orders given or something. But instead, all Dominik heard was one shot, two shots, three, four, five…six. Then, a shuffle of feet down the stairs and finally the relieving sound of the console powering down.

“Get up, Vergoldetschnauz! This ends now!” The gruff voice stood over him, nudging him in the shoulder with the toe of his boot. “Slowly! I want to see your hands!”

Dominik pushed himself up and stood, slowly as requested, hands visible. He was greeted by the barrel of a gun in his face, but looked past it to the agent holding it. “Agent Howard,” he said, frankly a bit surprised to see a new agent assigned to something so dangerous. The kid must show a lot of promise for them to send him out like this. Either that, or... hmm.

“Whatever you have going on here, it’s over. You’re finished,” Howard said, holding the gun steady.

Dominik looked over at Bradley, then at the three other agents crowded around the console. They were wasting time trying to figure out how to disable the restraints, and Dominik had a gut-wrenching feeling that it was time they didn’t have. “I know how to get him down,” he said.

“Nice try,” Howard answered. “Make a move and you’ll eat lead.”

“I can help him,” Dominik tried again, keeping voice level, rational. “He needs help, he’s --”

“Say another word and you’re finished, Doctor.”

“For fuck’s sake Howard, we’re on the same side!” he finally exploded. “Let me help --”

Howard cocked his gun. “Don’t test me again.”

Dominik pursed his lips, squeezing his eyes shut in frustration. He was at an extreme disadvantage here, completely unarmed and standing in the middle of a room in his undershirt. It wasn’t the most vulnerable he’d ever felt, but it was definitely up there. Barbara was probably--

Wait. Where was Barbara?

Dominik’s eyes snapped open to scan the floor for her body. Henchmen were sprawled out down the staircase and across the atrium, but she was nowhere to be found. Leave it to the VDA to completely miss the actual point.

He was just contemplating the likelihood of having enough time to communicate the idiocy of the situation before getting shot when Bradley stirred.

“He’s waking up, sir,” one of the agents said. “The console isn’t responding to --”

“Please, if I can just --” Dominik started, unable to keep it in.

Howard heaved a sigh. “You villains are really terrible at following orders,” he shrugged, and Dominik braced himself for what he knew would come next.

“Let him do it,” a weak, dry voice eked it’s way out of Bradley. “He knows how to do it, let him do it.”

Dominik looked at Howard, who looked right back at Dominik, suspicion and skepticism taking over his expression.

“That’s an order...agent,” Bradley rasped.

Howard stared at Dominik for a few more seconds before lowering his gun and nodding towards the console.

Freed from his be-silent-or-die bonds, Dominik rushed over to the three agents and nearly shoved them out of the way trying to get through to the control panel. The technology was more familiar than he’d expected, almost as if he’d built this himself. ...Almost as if it was his own design. 

Because it was. 

Of course. Barbara had worked with the resources she had, and her resources were Dominik’s own work. It was starting to come together, but he still just didn’t understand...why?

A few button presses later, the humming of the console subsided entirely. The restraints opened and another agent caught Bradley as he was dropped the short distance to the floor.

He watched as Bradley tried to use the other agent as a crutch, his legs refusing to support him on their own. Dried blood stuck to the side of his face and his torn shirt revealed the beginnings of some ugly bruising, his wrists raw and burned from the restraints. Dominik frowned, brows furrowed, wanting to say something, to apologize, to tell him he was here now and they were going home. But as tempting as it was to throw off all pretense and lay everything on the table, Bradley still had a cover to protect.

Bradley finally lifted his head, eyes landing immediately on Dominik and his expression shifting into something resembling gladness. Dominik couldn’t help but smile, relief washing over him.

“We’re bringing you home, Ellington,” Howard said with all the pomp of a general returning from war, but none of the physical stature. Or any sort of weathering at all, for that matter. He was a child, even if he played at being a veteran.

“Right, you’re welcome for that,” Dominik sneered. “Glad I could point you in the right direction.”

Agent Howard sighed, rolling his eyes and lifting his gun to point at Dominik again. “Give me one reason I shouldn’t blow your brains out right now.”

“Don’t!” Bradley said, with more force than he’d been able to manage for anything else so far.

It felt like the air had been sucked out of the room. Everyone turned to look at Bradley, but no one said anything for what felt like an eternity.

“...We need him, Howard.” Bradley finally managed. “He’s…he…”

“I know who did this,” Dominik said, picking up Bradley’s trail, “and I know how to get to them.” Okay, so the last part was a bit of a stretch, but even though he didn’t know where Barbara had gone he was certain he hadn’t seen the last of her.

“Nice try, Doctor,” Howard said. “We know you were in on this, you’ve wanted Ellington dead since the first time he sent you running like the rat you are.”

“No, it’s true,” Bradley said before Dominik had a chance to defend himself. “It wasn’t him.”

“Then who did?” Howard asked, still visibly leery but his resolve wavering.

“I did,” said a voice from the top of the stairs, and in a second every gun in the room was aimed at her.

“This has been quite a valuable learning experience for me,” Barbara continued, “but I think it’s high time we went our separate ways.” Pulling her arms out from behind her back, she revealed a simple device with a button on it. Just one button, made for one thing with no room for indecision. Dominik knew what it was immediately.

“Barbara --” he started.

“Goodbye, Dom.” She reached for the button, but a shot rang out instead. Barbara dropped the device and staggered back, pulling out her own gun and firing twice. The agent supporting Bradley dropped to the ground and Bradley stumbled backwards, his legs failing him. The second bullet drove itself into the console through some vital artery and the blast threw the other two agents across the floor.

Howard shot at Barbara two more times, but she had already disappeared through the door and was gone.

As soon as the door shut behind her, Howard ran over to one of the agents that had been knocked down by the blast. Both were bleeding badly and unmoving as they lay next to the still-sparking console. Howard checked for a pulse, swearing before moving on to the next one.

After another moment, he dropped his head. All three agents he’d brought along were dead.

“Do either of you want to tell me what the fuck just happened?” he said. “Who was that?”

“I’ll explain all of this,” Bradley said from where he leaned against the base of Barbara’s restraining device. “You shouldn’t have come, Howard, protocol says 72 hours--”

“You would be dead by now if I hadn’t! I knew something was wrong, you never just--”

“We don’t have time for this,” Dominik interrupted, his suspicions confirmed. Agent Howard had gone rogue in search of Bradley. How sweet. “We have to get--” he continued, but was cut off by a deep rumble from the rocky walls of the lair. 

It took a second to register what was happening, but the gravel raining down from the ceiling successfully jolted them to action. Howard pushed past Dominik to get to Bradley, quickly pulling him up and positioning himself under Bradley’s arm to help him hobble towards the stairs.

A second, louder rumble shook the room and Dominik turned his head in time to watch a crack form in the wall and a jet of water come spraying out, then another crack, and more water. This entire lair was going to be submerged in a matter of minutes.

Dominik ran to Bradley’s other side and ducked under that arm. Together, he figured the two of them could pull Bradley up the stairs before the water reached anything electrical. Bradley had probably taken enough of that already for all three of them.

The walls continued crack apart, water spouting out and drenching them as they heaved him up one stair at a time. Barbara had to be long gone by now, and from a purely professional standpoint Dominik couldn’t help but think about what a completely terrible location she’d chosen for an underground lair. Wherever she went next couldn’t possibly be any worse than this. He supposed the fact that she’d been able to build it at all was miraculous, but whether she brought it down herself as she was doing now, or waited until the water found its way in over time, this was probably always the way this lair was going to see its end.

“I’ll get the door,” Howard shouted as they neared the top of the stairs, dipping out from under Bradley’s arm and taking the rest of the way up two steps at a time. Dominik felt Bradley’s weight shift and he braced himself against it as he watched Howard disappear round the corner.

“Sorry for standing you up,” Bradley said with a strained laugh.

Dominik shook his head. Even in the aftermath of hours of torture and in the midst some pretty immediate danger, he was still cracking jokes. Unbelievable.

“You might have at least called,” Dominik replied, feigning annoyance.

Bradley started to answer but before he could, Howard reappeared, rushing back down the stairs and resuming his place at Bradley’s other side.

“We have... a slight problem,” he said, helping them up the last few steps.

Before Dominik could even begin to ask for some elaboration, they turned the corner toward the door and the “slight problem” was clear. As snugly as the door sat in the wall, thick, dark smoke poured in through the thin spaces that there were. He could feel the heat from where he stood. Not only had Barbara hit the self-destruct button on her lair, she had torched the entire building above it as well.

Great.

“We have to kick the door out,” Howard said. “She must have pushed something in front of it, I couldn’t get through.”

Dominik nodded, trying to ignore the surprise he felt. It’s what he would have done in her place, sure, but she actually wanted them dead. She would rather see them all drowned or electrocuted or burned to ash than to give Dominik the chance to apologize, to work something out. It suddenly all felt very real, and it occurred to him that he had no idea what life was going to look like should he make it out of here in one piece.

They guided Bradley over to the railing and helped him down before turning back to face the door.

“On three,” Howard said.

Together, they both drove a foot into the door. It budged, but just barely, and the smoke poured in, heavy and black. It stung Dominik’s eyes, a warning of what was waiting for them on the other side.

They stood back and kicked again, and after one more try the door was open enough for Howard to squeeze his way out and push the obstruction out of the way. Dominik went back for Bradley, using the railing as leverage to get him back on his feet.

With the door now opened wide, smoke billowed in, enveloping them in an instant. Bradley buried his face in his elbow, staggering out into the blazing room with Dominik under his arm.

“That way!” Dominik shouted, pointing. The front door was two rooms away and if they were quick, maybe they could get there before the ceiling started coming down. 

Howard nodded and plunged forward, leading the way.

Dominik tightened his grip around Bradley’s waist and followed, every breath like sandpaper in his lungs. The flames licked up the already-blackened wallpaper to the ceiling, consuming chairs and rugs, books and the shelves they sat upon. They were nearly to the foyer when they heard a massive CRACK. Dominik instinctively stepped back, just in time to watch a huge wooden beam drop to the floor right in front of him.

“Howard!” Bradley yelled, and only then did Dominik realize that they’d been separated. A wall of fire leapt up, embers from the fallen beam spitting out in every direction. Dominik squinted, searching for the other agent through the flames.

“Howard!” Bradley yelled again, but there was no answer.

If Bradley were in better shape, Dominik thought he might be able to get through the fire to look for Howard, but there was no way he was leaving Bradley behind. Even if he were completely fine, even if Dominik had somehow found him in time, before any of this happened, there wasn’t a chance of that.

“He’ll find his way out,” Dominik said, pulling Bradley back. Their only other option was the door he had come through when he first got here, on practically the other side of the house. But he felt Bradley resist.

“We have to find him,” Bradley said, “we can’t leave him here!”

“He’ll make it out!” Dominik insisted. “But we won’t if we don’t start moving now.”

Bradley’s eyes stayed fixed, still searching, but after a moment he nodded. Dominik turned them around and, one step at a time, began trudging through the rooms toward the back door. Between the intense heat and the thick smoke, breathing was becoming increasingly difficult. 

“Almost there,” Dominik said, unsure of whether it was to motivate himself or reassure Bradley. “We’re almost there.”

The door was finally in sight, now they just had to reach it without anything else collapsing. But with each step, Bradley seemed to grow heavier and heavier. His head slumped forward and whatever effort he had been able to put into walking ceased.

“Shit,” Dominik hissed, clenching his jaw and readjusting his grip on Bradley to compensate for the added weight. He did not just put up with all of that for Bradley to check out now. If he didn’t plan on making it out of here, he should have done something about it before they bothered to pull him down from Barbara’s death contraption. He’d missed his chance, now he had to live.

White light streamed through the glass panes of the door like a beacon in Dominik’s swimming vision. Every muscle screamed for the fresh air that was right outside, all he had to do was get there -- but when he touched the doorknob, the white-hot metal seared the palm of his hand. He recoiled, crying out and nearly losing his hold on Bradley.

The lack of options here was...concerning, and for a moment Dominik felt paralyzed by indecision. Any attempt to kick the door down was off the table with an unconscious VDA agent relying on him to stay upright. There wasn’t time to look for something to protect his hand, or even to try and tear cloth off of something either of them were wearing, and every second he spent deliberating over this was time they didn’t have.

He took a couple shallow breaths in preparation and reached out again, gripping the knob and turning, using every ounce of energy in his body to push through the threshold and out into the open air.

As he dragged Bradley away from the blazing house, he felt his own legs give out. They had to keep moving, but it seemed his body was not taking any more commands. He felt Bradley slip from his grip first, and the next thing he knew he was laying face down in the grass. Pain shot up his arm from his scorched hand and he grimaced, forcing himself onto his back to look at Bradley.

“We made it,” Dominik said, half laughing. He hadn’t expected to die in there, but the fact that he was still alive after all of that felt like a miracle. He supposed it wasn’t the worst thing he’d lived through, but it was certainly a victory worth celebrating.

He flung an arm over to Bradley, lacking the energy to be gentle. “We made it,” he said again, shaking him slightly. “Bradley.”

No response.

“Bradley,” he said, shaking him a bit harder. Still nothing.

His eyes fixed on Bradley’s chest and he held his own breath, waiting for the rise and fall, something to tell him he didn’t need to worry, at least not yet. But the agent didn’t move.

“Bradley,” Dominik repeated, a surge of adrenaline giving him the strength to sit up and kneel beside him, shaking him harder. “Get up.”

He severely wished he had bothered to pick up some medical training somewhere in all his years of villainy. Maybe if he had learned even the first thing, he would know what to do right now. Instead, he found himself furiously banging a fist on Bradley’s chest.

“Damn you, get up!” he yelled, eyes stinging. “Bradley, you insufferable bastard! GET UP!”

He brought his fist down a final time, closing his eyes and exhaling, face wet with tears. This was where he was now. Of course it was. Whether he knew it or not, he’d chosen this. All of it. Barbara, Bradley, the home burning down behind him. Every decision he’d ever made had brought him here, sitting over the body of this man. This man who’d shown him the difference between comfort and complacency, between what he expected of himself and what he would actually choose, given the chance. This man who inexplicably wanted him when all signs should have pointed him in the opposite direction. 

This man he...loved. 

What else could possibly have driven Dominik to these lengths to rescue him? He was well familiar with his own selfish motives, and certainly this mission wasn’t without a few of them, but there was something that had planted itself in the depths of his subconscious when he wasn’t paying attention. Something that made him suspicious of Bradley’s absence at dinner, rather than simply being angry and writing him off. Something that prompted him to take the initiative and go out looking for him. Something that burned like acid in his throat as he tore his eyes away in resignation, feeling utterly exhausted and utterly defeated.

He’d done all of this. This was his fault.

“Shit,” he whispered to himself, digging his fingers into the dirt, watching the flames engulf what was left of the life he’d built over the course of so many years. “Shit. Shit.” 

He felt tears collecting at his chin, and imagined what Barbara would say to see him like this. The Barbara he thought he knew would clasp his shoulder, offer a kind word, an embrace. But the Barbara he’d just met… he could already hear the cold laughter, the vindication. Yes. She’d won. Dominik wished he could say that if there were another way to hand her the victory she’d apparently wanted so desperately, he would have done it in a heartbeat. But he knew himself. Prideful, self-centered--

“Dom.”

Dominik’s heart lodged itself in his throat. He almost didn’t dare to turn around, in case he’d imagined it or was beginning to hallucinate from inhaling all that smoke.

“Dom?”

No, it had to be real. He whipped his head around and sure enough, Bradley looked right back at him.

“You bastard,” Dominik said, voice cracking. He should be livid, he thought. The complete crisis Bradley had put him through was unforgivable, and now he was going to know all about it. “Do you have any idea--” he started, but any energy he planned on putting into this lecture evaporated almost immediately. Instead, he found himself pulling Bradley into his arms, burying his face in the agent’s neck.

Bradley weakly lifted an arm to return the embrace. “It’s alright,” he said. “I’m alright.”

Dominik squeezed his eyes shut, trying to memorize this feeling. The closeness, Bradley’s hand gently stroking his back, every reassuring breath he took. Somewhere in the back of his mind he knew he should feel foolish for letting himself fall apart this way, but there was time to be embarrassed later. Once they got off of this god-forsaken island, they would have all the time in the world, and he planned to make sure of it.

“Hey,” Bradley said, pulling back to look at Dominik’s face, red, soot-covered and tear-stained. “Look who saved the day,” he grinned. “Not terribly villainous of you, who are you again?”

“Hell if I know anymore,” Dominik laughed, pushing tears away with the heel of his palm. Even in this sorry state, Bradley radiated a warmth and enthusiasm for life that Dominik figured he himself would probably never know. But if keeping Bradley around was the closest he could get to that feeling, then… okay. Yes. That was a trade-off that seemed pretty agreeable.

“Bradley, I --” he began, but his eyes were drawn to the horizon. As soon as he noticed the helicopter approaching, the beating sound of its blades followed. That was a VDA aircraft, and they were here for Bradley.

“I should go,” he finished.

“Don’t,” Bradley said, gripping Dominik’s shirt. “It’s okay. Don’t go.”

“I have to, they’ll--” 

But Bradley’s head fell back again, his hand slipped from Dominik’s back, and he was out. 

Dominik heaved a sigh, almost skeptical that he was actually unconscious. But either way, Bradley was clearly not in his right mind. If the VDA found them like this, it would be extremely terrible on more levels than Dominik wanted to consider. 

He laid Bradley carefully on the ground and began looking for a place to take cover before the helicopter got any closer.

...There wasn’t much to choose from. A skimpy tree about ten yards away, around the corner of the burning house, or all the way back to his amphibiglobe, which would be ideal except that he would never make it there without being seen. But maybe that didn’t matter; as long as he was in the water before they could reach him, he’d be out of there in no time.

He stood up and started back towards the shore where he’d beached the globe, but something surfaced from the back of his mind and stopped him like a dog at the end of its leash.

Howard.

There was no reason that Dominik should have felt an ounce of concern for him, he was just another VDA agent, but it was clear that Bradley cared about him. And he was so young. Even if he would inevitably turn out to be another cog in the machine, he had come for Bradley when he didn’t think anyone else would. Dominik supposed that should count for something.

The pulsing of helicopter wings drew nearer and Dominik forced himself to turn around. It went directly in the face of his better judgement, but he told himself it was what Bradley wanted despite not being conscious to say it. With his luck, Howard would already be aboard the helicopter and they’d take advantage of his completely unarmed, vulnerable state and kill him on sight. Or worse, lock him up.

But before very conveniently passing out, Bradley had assured him that it was okay. Maybe he had a plan of his own, maybe he knew something Dominik didn’t. It was the sort of risk Dominik wasn’t usually comfortable taking, but then again he couldn’t remember the last time he’d been comfortable at all, so really, where was the difference?

“You’d better be right about this,” Dominik sighed, shaking his head in resignation and taking up a spot next to Bradley to watch the helicopter arrive.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> At last, another chapter! I'm expecting to crank out one last chapter after this one, and then something of a side project that accidentally came about in trying to plot out this garbage here. Hopefully this next chapter won't take as long to post, but the end is in sight! (or that's what I think, anyway...)
> 
> Thanks for all of the positive feedback, it really means everything to me and this chapter might never have been posted without it, so really. Thank you <3


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